A Serial Entrepreneur Succeeds By Building A Customer Experience As Unique As Her Products

Uno Alla Volta, which means one of a kind, is a name that not only applies to the artisanal finds the company sells, but to the approach it takes toward its customers.

Terri Alpert had the idea for Uno Alla Volta back in 2003, while she was running a professional cutlery company. That company was a success, bringing in more than $9 million in revenue, but she was ready for something new. Alpert determined criteria her next venture needed to meet: it had to have proprietary products, barriers to entry, abundant supply, and perhaps most important, it had to feel meaningful to her. Some of the cutlery company’s products had a handmade component, and as she drummed up ideas she realized that she loved telling customers the stories of the people behind those products.

That led to the concept for Uno Alla Volta, which works with about 120 artisans around the world to sell their products and collaborates with them on exclusive items. The company sells jewelry, accessories, Murano glass, Polish pottery and more online and through its catalogs.

Many artisans contact her now that the brand is well established, but Alpert and her team discover most of those they work with in their travels. “You never know where you are going to find a great artisan,” says Alpert. While she seeks to bring their work to a wider audience, Uno Alla Volta often develops exclusive products that she knows will appeal to her customers. The company’s best-selling jack-o-lanterns are a case in point. Halloween isn’t celebrated in Poland, but Alpert worked with some artisans skilled in making Poland’s much-loved pottery to produce the American favorite. The jack-o-lanterns are decorated with brushwork and stamping—using sponges dipped in glazes--with a new version released each year.

As Alpert developed and tested her idea, she continued to run the cutlery company. She brought in executives to help her build the infrastructure she needed to run both, but things didn’t run smoothly. The recession hit, and a change in postal regulations left her with higher mailing costs than payroll. Alpert knew she had to regroup. She let go of the cutlery company and turned her full focus to her new brand.

Much of that commitment went to creating a customer experience that would build a loyal customer base. Much of Uno Alla Volta’s business is gifts, and in that industry, Alpert says a 25% customer retention rate is standard. With a customer service approach that might be summed up as both deep and wide, she has steadily grown that percentage for Uno Alla Volta. A laser focus on the brand experience has changed the first-year value of a customer from $20 to $50, says Alpert. “Our best customers buy something 15 times a year,” she says.

Alpert loves data, but was careful not to fixate on numbers. “I think people sometimes measure the wrong things,” she says. “We all like to measure, but sometimes we focus too much on just measuring the transaction when it is really all about the future value of customers. We constantly ask ourselves, ‘What are the moments that will make people buy or not buy again?’”